His Bunch Of Flowers
by amyniknak
Summary: What happened when Dr Cox and Jordan broke up. Rated T for language and well, it's Perry and Jordan, waht else do you expect? Now complete!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Scrubs. God I wish I did. It would mean I'd own Dr Cox for one thing. But yes. I do not own it, and the characters are not mine.

Dr Cox was going through a rough time. With work, his personal life, even his health, everything seemed to be getting worse and worse. He didn't want it to get on top of him, he wasn't that sort of guy, he was a man, but it was getting harder and harder to pretend to everyone that everything was fine.

But everyone knew that his marriage to Jordan was circling the drain. He'd heard them talking about them at the hospital, Laverne leading the gossip, blaming him for how his wife was unhappy. It made him feel so useless, knowing that he had single-handedly flushed his once-phenomenal relationship down the toilet.

He'd been talking to Carla about how to fix it, but even she didn't have any answers. She listened to him describe everything that had happened in the last two years, nodding and shaking her head in the appropriate places as Dr Cox talked about how he thought Jordan was having affairs, how she accused him of caring more about his work than about her, how he'd tried to make it better countless times by telling her he loved her, which was true, only to have her throw it back in his face by storming out. Carla had listened, her heart near breaking at the sight of her friend feeling so bad, before shrugging her shoulders and leaving to go change Mr Stanley's dressing.

Dr Cox had watched her go, feeling his eyes begin to sting, almost as if he were about to cry. But that couldn't be true. He hadn't cried since he was six, and after that, he had vowed never to let his emotions get to him again. He had wound up watching his father, usually in a drunken rage, attack his mother and his younger sister Paige, his face as hard as steel, his young fists clenched until his knuckles turned a dirty shade of white. And now it seemed that logically, if the sight of his mother covered in bruises hadn't caused the tears to fall, Jordan wouldn't either.

He was strong. He knew that. You had to be strong to be a doctor. To face death every day, to battle in vain against often invisible diseases, to have to tell people that they were dying, it took guts. And that was why before going home that night, he went to the hospital gift shop and picked up the biggest bouquet of flowers he could find, the sort that he had formerly sniffed at for being a waste of money whenever some excited new father or anxious boyfriend emptied their pockets in exchange for one. He drove home, the flowers on the seat beside him, in utter silence, trying to work out what he would say to Jordan, what it would take for her to realise that their marriage, fraught with negativity as it was, wasn't totally beyond salvage.

He was never there for her anymore, Jordan thought to herself, as she lay in bed waiting for him to get home. The hospital took up all his time, and even when he wasn't there, she knew he was thinking about it. He wasn't the handsome young doctor she'd once known. The years battling disease had warped him into some unrecognisable shell, sucking all the emotion and love out of him. Maybe that was why she did what she did.

Dr Cox arrived home, and after checking his appearance in the mirror and swallowing whatever pride that threatened to jeopardise his plan, turned his key in the door to their apartment. They had moved in a few years ago, and it was now home. How long it seemed. He remembered the irritating manner of the realtor who showed it to them, and all of a sudden he was there, Jordan's hand on his to stop him punching the seemingly plastic face of the chirpy man who at that point was reminding them that the apartment was in such a good location, and had good access to transport links. She whispered in his ear, her hands were in his hair. Perry smiled. It had been so good back then. Was there even the slightest chance it would ever return to that? Was he just holding onto false hope? Stop it Perry, he thought. You're not a cissy. Just tell the woman how much you love her.

Clutching the bouquet, he strode across the living room to the bedroom door. It was late. he had meant to come home sooner, but, well, the hospital had needed him. As he thought this, he knew he couldn't justify it. The hospital had not needed him. He was supposed to be off work, but there had been a patient with pneumonia, and he just couldn't trust his interns, even though the nurses could have helped them, and there were plenty of other doctors on call. The hospital didn't need him. He just worked there. For most people, work was an extra in their lives, something they did to get money. Not in Dr Cox's. He knew, and so did everyone else, that without the hospital he would be nothing.

But no, he thought. That needed to change. Jordan was part of his life. She needed him more than the hospital ever would. He smiled, and opened the bedroom door, all his rehearsed words falling out of his head at what he saw.

Jordan was in bed with someone. She was kissing them, moving, touching. She was giggling, as her companion moaned. Perry felt his whole body begin to shake, as his mouth seemed to drain of all moisture. His tongue was sandpaper, his jaw slack, as he closed his eyes to try and block out what he was seeing. They hadn't noticed him, their eyes focussed only on each other. The flowers fell to the floor, petals scattered everywhere.

Jordan looked up, she'd heard something. Perry. She could see him, his face racked with shock. A wave of guilt and horror washed over her, all passion she had previously been feeling evaporating into thin air.

Their eyes met, but Jordan had to look away. She rolled onto her back, revealing the identity of her lover.

"Pete…" Perry muttered, seeing the smug face of his protégé.

"Hi Dr Cox…" Pete Fisher said, trying to hide the smile on his face.

Perry couldn't take it anymore. His wife had slept with his friend. His friend. HIS FRIEND! And Pete wasn't even sorry. She slept with Pete. She slept with Pete. She slept with Pete. The words kept repeating themselves in his head, like some kind of surreal drumbeat, almost as if his brain was about to explode with the effort of trying to process this new and unexpected information.

"Get the fuck outta my apartment." he growled.

"Jordan, your wife, invited me here." Pete replied, in a vaguely teasing voice.

Dr Cox snapped. He grabbed his former friend by the arm, and struck him hard on the face. Pete crumpled on the floor, nursing a cut lip.

"Get dressed you bastard." Perry screamed, standing over him until he was decent enough to walk the streets. He then seized him by the neck, and shoved him against the wall.

"I respected you Pete. You were my friend. YOU WERE MY FRIEND!"

Spittle flew from his lips, making Pete flinch.

"Well?" Perry said, hoping still for some reasonable explanation.

Pete looked down, before wriggling free from his mentor's grasp and running for the door, never looking back as he let himself out of the apartment.

Perry turned to Jordan. She hadn't moved, the duvet wrapped around her, almost as if she was hoping to hide what she had done.

"Per?" she whispered to her husband, who was leaning with his head against the wall.

"I brought you flowers." came the gruff reply.

"Thanks." she said, pointlessly. The flowers were lying crumpled and broken on the floor, trampled in Pete's flee to the door. The beautiful red roses, their heads detached from the stem, smashed in with the carnations. The same they'd had at their wedding, Perry noted, as he searched for something to say.

"Jordan, why did you do it?"

"I-I don't know." she answered, suddenly feeling so vulnerable. She wasn't vulnerable. She was strong. She was a bitch. She had first seduced Perry by insulting him! But now, it was as if her guard had dropped and it couldn't be risen up again, not now anyway.

"I can't believe you would have sex with Pete. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO THAT JORDAN! I TRUSTED YOU! I CAME HOME TONIGHT WITH A VIEW TO MEND OUR RELATIONSHIP!"

Anger hit him as suddenly as a bolt of lightning, and he overturned the bedside table, knocking a lamp, a photo frame and an alarm clock onto the floor. There was a soft tinkle as the lamp broke, in turn smashing the glass of the photograph. A wedding photograph. Not content with that, Dr Cox opened the wardrobe doors and pulled out all of the clothes inside it, throwing them to the floor, trying to quell his blinding rage.

"I'm so sorry Perry." Jordan shouted above the noise.

"Why would you do it, Jordan?!"

"I was lonely."

Perry stopped trashing the room to look at his wife, who by this time was crying, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"You're always at work now. And when you do get home, we have sex and then you go to sleep, and then we wake up, and you go back to work. That's all I get to see you. You didn't used to be like this Perry. You used to love me!"

"I do love you."

"You never show it."

Jordan got out of bed and dressed, avoiding Perry's gaze. She picked up some of her clothes from the floor, packing them into a case along with some make-up and other items.

"I'll be at Danni's." she said, in an empty voice, hitching thr bag over her shoulder and slipping her bare feet into a pair of black heels.

"Please don't go."

She looked at Perry, whose eyes were shining with what looked like tears.

"Jordan, I love you so much. I've loved you since I saw you that first time. You can call me a sucker, I don't care. I believe we're meant to be Jordan. I do, I do."

"No you don't Perry. Neither of us believe we're okay here. You love your job. You say you love me. You can't love us both. And I think that we need to end this before it gets any worse. We both have major issues here. And the way we work them out will not be together. It's got to the point where all the reasons we were together in the first place aren't there anymore. And no bunch of cheap hospital flowers can mend that."

Perry watched her go, listening for the click as the door closed behind her. He sank to the floor, his head suddenly too heavy to hold up. He picked up the flowers and placed them in the kitchen trash can, watching the once beautiful flowers, that had once seemed to be the promising key to fixing his marriage, mixing with potato peelings and the remains of some pasta meal Jordan had had for dinner. He then straightened up, and headed for the drinks cabinet, pouring himself a glass of Scotch. He downed it in one, before reaching for another, feeling all that was real about his life fading away. Like a bunch of flowers wilting.

A/N – Thank you for reading. Please review. Next chapter will be up soon, as I have a lot of time on my hands now school has finished.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Scrubs.

A/N – Thanks for the reviews! They mean so much to me! If you're interested, the song I was listening to whilst writing this chapter was 3 Doors Down – Here Without You. The song for the previous chapter was The Fray – Over My Head. I don't know why I'm telling you this. Well, these songs set the mood… so listen to them if you need to get in the zone… LOL at me being weird. Anyway, on with the story!

The morning after. After what? Perry certainly couldn't remember. He was on the sofa. There were glasses, and bottles. Empty glasses. Empty bottles. His head hurt…

Perry got up, and squinted at the room. It looked the same as it always did, after all, it was still his living room. Something had happened. But what? All he knew was that he had been drunk. Very drunk. So drunk he had clearly passed out. Why?

He glanced down at himself, and realised he was only wearing his boxer shorts. Ah. It all made sense now. He and Jordan had clearly made up. By having a lot of sex. He could remember as far back as buying the flowers. They had worked! She must be asleep. Everything was starting to make more sense now.

Running his hands through his unruly curls, he strode over to the bedroom door, and flung it open, a huge smile on his face as he waited for his wife to grin back. But she wasn't there. There was no-one there. It was a mess in there. Broken lamps, clothes carpeting the floor. The bed was unmade, the sheets crumpled and the strewn across the nightstand. Perry wrinkled his forehead, for once in his life, completely clueless.

Then he realised. He remembered. Jordan. Pete. Jordan and Pete. They had slept together. She had left. Her favourite black high heels were missing from their usual place at the foot of the bed. She had gone.

Everything started to come flooding back, causing a roaring in Perry's brain that was nothing to do with the amount of alcohol he had consumed. He had bought her flowers, planning to try to mend their marriage. He had come home. He had turned the doorknob. He had found them. Jordan had been kissing Pete. The sighs, the moans, the giggles. He clutched his head as if it were about to burst, feeling everything hurting, his eyes stinging, his chest thumping, as if his heart were about to break (even though, as a doctor, he knew this was physically impossible). It was at this point that he ran to the bathroom to throw up.

He was an hour late for work that day. He hadn't been able to find a clean t-shirt. Jordan always used to set his clothes out for him in the morning after she had had her shower but before she got dressed herself, and then shook him gently to wake him up. Because she wasn't there, he had both overslept and wasn't able to get dressed as quickly. And then he couldn't find the keys to his Porsche. They were usually in his pocket, but they must have fallen out. He didn't have time for breakfast. He doubted he could keep anything down anyway.

It was okay for him to go to work though. He wasn't drunk. He just had a hangover. He doubted he'd even drunk that much really. Therefore, in his mind, it was fine for him to go to work. The hospital needed him after all, and it would help him not to wallow in self-pity. After all, it was all he had left now.

It was just typical of his luck to run into Dr Kelso as soon as he stepped in the door late.

"Ah, Perry! There you are! I'm sorry that your job so clearly conflicts with your personal life, and I guess you won't be wanting that promotion anymore…"

Normally, a blow like that would have made Perry want to retaliate, but he felt almost numb. The words just went over his head. They seemed so insignificant to his life now. A promotion. So what? It wasn't like he had lost his job. Now that would have killed him.

The promotion would have been good though. It was more money, and had shorter hours. Jordan had promised to pull strings with the board to get him considered, because she said she wanted him to herself a lot more. He had smiled, and then they had kissed. But then he had said something, something about how the shorter hours would mean he wouldn't be at the hospital as much as he liked, and then she had stormed out. She had stormed out for good now, he remembered. Why did he keep forgetting?

He walked away from Kelso, and went to go collect his charts for the day from Laverne, who was busy watching one of her stories on the small portable TV she had concealed behind the desk. At the sound of Perry's footsteps, she looked up.

"What is wrong with yo' eyes?" she said, her face concerned.

"What?" he replied. What was she talking about? His eyes were fine!

"You been drinkin'?"

Oh. He remembered. He had been.

"You been cryin'?"

"No."

The reply came faster than he thought it would. It was automatic. Of course. Perry Cox didn't cry. Crying was for girls, when they saw a kitten or a nice sweater or something. But why were his eyes pricking now, almost as if he were about to start sobbing like a baby? He could feel a tear trickling down his cheek. Damn Laverne, he thought. Damn her. He had been calm. All thoughts of Jordan had been banished, but she'd brought them all back. The stupid woman.

"What she done now?"

Laverne had never seen Dr Cox like this before. They'd worked together for about the same amount of time, so she'd seen him lose patients. She'd seen him learn new things, and then in turn terrorise his own interns. She'd seen him meet Jordan, she'd seen them sneaking into closets when they thought no-one was watching, only to emerge later red in the face, their hair and clothing rumpled. She'd been at their wedding. She'd bought a nice hat to wear. But never in all the years she'd known him had she seen him cry.

"I said, what she done now?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. I'm good. How's Mrs Carr doing?"

"She died."

It was just one thing after another today. Mrs Carr had been a woman aged around 60, who had been admitted with what they thought was just a simple heart condition. But she had apparently gone into cardiac arrest over night. Just brilliant.

"Oh."

"Doctor?"

"What???"

"Go home. We don't need you when you're like this. I don't know what's happened, but you ain't right right now. Come back tomorrow."

"But the patients…"

"We'll get someone to cover them."

"Okay…"

Dr Cox turned to exit the building, feeling more useless than ever. How could he cope with being sat at home, knowing his wife didn't want him and the hospital didn't either.

Again, it was typical that he bumped, literally, into Jordan.

"Perry." she said, in a cold, expressionless voice.

"Jordan." Perry thought he said, but he was too busy concentrating on hiding his face from her to concentrate on the situation.

"I'll send Danni to pick up the rest of my stuff. She's got a key. And I've got a meeting with my lawyer at 2 to discuss the divorce."

Perry closed his eyes briefly, wishing more than anything that he could be someone else. He could sense Laverne eyeing him with interest, finally knowing what was going on. Her hand was poised to grab the telephone, to spread the most interesting gossip in a while.

Jordan looked how she always did, Perry thought, as he struggled to find a reply that didn't involve him punching anything or worse, crying. She was wearing black trousers and a pretty top that showed plenty of cleavage, but he wasn't in the mood to look right now. Her hair was perfectly styled, and her make-up applied just as she had been doing since she was fourteen. She looked beautiful, Perry thought to himself, only heightening his sadness. He had managed to lose her. He had had her, she had been his wife, she had loved him, but now…

"Fine." he replied, cursing himself as he heard his voice cracked.

"Good. Danni will be round whenever. She won't talk to you, don't worry. And she knows how it was your fault we split up. So if she throws anything, it's your own fault."

His fault? How dare she? She slept with Pete Fisher, not him! But before he could retaliate, she was gone, the sound of her stilettos making a rhythmic clicking noise against the floor. If there was ever a moment where he could have pleaded with her to stay, where he could have got on his knees and begged no matter how degrading it would have been, where he could have taken her and kissed her and told her she would always come first, and somehow found a way to prove it to her, that was it.

"Stupid woman." he muttered to himself. At least if he acted angry rather than sad, he could pretend that the tears were of rage not despair.

A/N – Please review! I really do appreciate it!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - It took me a ridiculously long time to upload this chapter. I always thought I hadn't actually written it, but when I was sorting through my files the other day it was practically complete, so I worked on it a little and here you go. When I read over it when I'd just found it again I was pretty pleased with it, so I hope you like it too.

-------

He had been dreading this day. Ever since he knew that he and Jordan were getting a divorce, he had been hoping deep down that she would reconsider, but she hadn't spoken to him since that day at the hospital the morning after he had found her with Pete Fisher. But now it was the court date, where a court would finally decide on whether their marriage was over or not, and he hadn't heard from her.

He missed her so much.

There was a space next to him on the bed. Half of their wardrobe was empty. His shirts and trousers were hanging alone, instead of entwining seductively with her dresses and skirts. The bathroom wasn't cluttered with her various lipsticks, shampoos and moisturisers, and all her contact numbers had been wiped off the speed dial. It was as if she had never even been there. There was nothing to prove to him that she had ever loved him at all.

They'd all been trying to comfort him at work. He didn't need it. They weren't sorry, he knew it. He had seen them, offering their condolences as if someone had died, before giggling behind their hands and spreading rumours about why they had broken up. Apparently, according to the girls in OBGYN, he hadn't been enough to satisfy Jordan's sexual needs, and that was why she had slept with Pete. If only they knew, Perry had smiled. Their sex life was the only thing that had stayed solid as the rest of their marriage crumbled around them.

Today he had to see her again. And he was scared. He'd booked this day off work weeks ago, and had even bought a new suit. After all, the only other suit he owned was the one he got married in. And it would be slightly odd to wear his wedding suit to the divorce court. Plus, he wanted Jordan to think he was a new man. New suit, new guy. New Perry Cox.

Of course he wasn't hoping that they would get back together. They couldn't surely? It wasn't as if she had eaten the last piece of pizza or if he had accidentally called her fat. That was what the rest of his friends were arguing over. Their problems went deeper than that. They were unhappy. And that was why it was the only logical solution to cut off all ties they had to each other.

That was why it was difficult to see Jordan looking so damn hot at the courthouse. He had felt sweat begin to gather at the base of his neck when he caught sight of her, confidently striding down the corridor. She looked amazing. And with a sinking heart, he realised why. It was because she looked happy. She was happy without him.

"Jordan!" he shouted, to get her attention. She looked up at him, and then carried on walking.

"Ouch…" Perry muttered to himself. She was still angry with him. She still wanted the divorce.

"Dammit." He said under his breath. This was really happening. And there was nothing he could do.

----

A few hours later, it was done. They were divorced. He was single. He didn't have a wife. Holding his hands behind his head in his usual manner, he wondered what to do now. He should be pleased with all the opportunities that had opened up. He could pursue other women! He could watch the sport on TV as much as he liked. He could drink as often as he wanted without Jordan in the background sighing until he put down the glass. He smiled for the first time in weeks. He was free.

"Per?"

It was Jordan. She was behind him. But he was free… he turned to see her eyeing him, strangely, and dare he say, seductively? A tingle ran down his spine, making every hair on his body stand on end and his breathing accelerate.

"Yes Jordan?"

"Well, Percival, I am so happy our sham of a marriage has ended."

"Oh yes Jordan, me too. I can't wait to invite that blonde from the bar over as soon as I get home tonight."

"I hate you."

He almost laughed at this point. She had cracked. He had won.

"Why, Jorderoo? Are you jealous?"

And that was when it happened. The thing that let Perry know that even though they might be divorced, Jordan would never disappear from his life.

She grabbed him by the collar, and roughly kissed him, her hands in his hair, her hands on his chest, her hands everywhere.

"Get in that closet there." She whispered in his ear.

He obeyed, confused but in no way objecting to what was going on.

Jordan reached for the light switch on the wall inside the small cramped cupboard, illuminating a single lightbulb and revealing the cupboard to be stacked with cleaning materials.

"Here's the deal Perry. We're divorced. Which means I don't have to live with you whining about god knows what and demanding sex whenever I'm just about to fall asleep. But now I get to demand the sex. From now on Perry, that is part of our arrangement. When Jordan wants sex, Jordan gets it. Got that?"

Perry nodded, before taking off his jacket and loosening his tie.

"You sure?" he murmured, as she worked at unfastening his belt.

"You know my rule! No talking!"

He smiled, before kissing her again. She kissed back, fiercely, as if all of her frustration and anger from the last few months has pouring out of her all at once. She quickly stripped, before kneeling down to take off her black high heels.

"Um Jordan?"

"What?!"

"Why don't you leave those on?"

---

Some time later, Jordan emerged from the closet, reapplying her lipstick and refluffing her hair. She had a small smile on her face, that a person who didn't know her might have interpreted as happiness. She buttoned her shirt, before sauntering back down the corridor triumphantly. She had him right where she wanted him. Now she could have all the sex she wanted, no strings attached.

And she hadn't been missing the strings at all.

Nope. Not one of them.

Not even the way he held her while they watched TV of an evening that let her know that even though his eyes might have been on whatever stupid game they were watching, he knew she was there, and cared that she was there.

Nor the way he used to whisper "I love you" to her while she feigned sleep.

No. None of it. She wouldn't miss a thing.

----

Perry opened the closet door five minutes later, as she had instructed him. He had had time to compose himself a little – tuck in his shirt, retie his tie. And as he pushed open the door, there was a tiny part of him that wished she was outside waiting.

Well, it wasn't a tiny part.

More like a huge part.

His heart sank a little when he realised that she was long gone, though her perfume seemed to be lingering in the air, taunting him.

But there was no need to get upset, he thought, as he made his way to the exit of the courthouse.

After all, she'd be back. And he knew it even more than she did.

She'd never be gone.

Never completely.


End file.
